Recently I posted that when we’re entertaining, it’s just fine to buy a jar of salsa and a bag of corn chips to go along with the other appetisers we’re offering. The comments ranged from, “people who don’t like chips and salsa are snobs” to “why can’t you make everything homemade if you’re inviting people to your home.”

They’re both probably right but I stick by my recommendation that a jar of salsa and a bag of chips can help to get things started while you’re bringing things out of the kitchen. Then, a couple of weeks after that post, someone wrote to me privately and said, “If you hadn’t bought the jar of salsa, how would you have made it in your kitchen?”

There are two ways – one is using fresh tomatoes and one is using canned chopped tomatoes. If you’ve got tomatoes in a tin in your pantry, you’re only minutes away from delicious salsa. I made this salsa in less than 15 minutes from start to finish. I took these photographs and then while I was editing the photographs, John ate the entire bowl of salsa. He looked up and said, “This will be great on the tacos tonight.”

“Oh, so you didn’t eat it all?”

The look on his face was priceless and he said, “This is all you made?”

Well, no but he didn’t know that! Two cans of tomatoes and all the other good bits makes a quart of salsa.

Two regular sized tins of chopped Italian tomatoes, half an onion finely chopped, a piece of green capsicum (pepper) finely chopped, a couple of minced cloves of garlic, a few drops of Tabasco sauce and a shake of cayenne pepper, a teeny pinch of chopped dried chillies and some chopped coriander (cilantro) and whizz from just a second or two in a food processor and it’s done.

John found it a bit too liquid but it reminds me of restaurant salsa and I won’t change a thing. (Remember, he ate the WHOLE bowl of it.)

Finally, before Christmas I offered some of my Esmerelda, daughter of Priscilla sourdough starter and one person who asked was a mine worker in Queensland named Mark. When Mark works the night shift, he always brings his mates loaves of homemade bread for their meal. When he saw my offer he asked if I’d pop some in an envelope for him too.

Well, look at what Mark has made from his Super Sourdough Sally starter. I couldn’t be more pleased that he shared the photos with me.